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The House Invictus

Ten young Black men embark on what appears to be a macabre initiation into a Fraternal Brotherhood. (Read: The United States America)

Help us complete festival submissions for The House Invictus.

The Project

The House Invictus is a feature film written and directed by Uche Aguh, which was filmed on location in Palmetto Georgia, in 2018. The film features Jarius Sowells, Kayode Akinyemi, Vincent Ramirez, Thiree Pinnock, J Shawn Durham and a host of many other talented actors.

The film was shot in a span of 14 days on a super micro budget, and minimal crew. It was a huge undertaking, but we managed to see it through. The cinematography was engineered by Dennis Schmitz, while Ukairo U. Ukairo, handled the post of Assistant Director. These two were very instrumental in the construction of this film.

The film focuses on a house, which initially presents as a sort of Fraternity house. But, as we dig deeper, we realize it is in fact, an old slave plantation house which was burnt many years past by its slave owner. The many men we find in the House are reincarnated souls of slaves who are perpetually stuck in this maze. Their perpetual enslavement in this archaic yet modern world, reflects the psychological trauma black men and people face in real life every day.

We need your support!

Over the next couple of months, we will be applying to various film festivals all throughout the world and we are in dire need of financial support to be able to complete our submissions. We’ve just received our very first festival acceptance at The People’s Film Festival which takes place in Harlem.

We are applying to a number of festivals among which include:

Festival De Cannes (Cannes Film Festival)

American Black Film Festival

Cyprus International Film Festival

Austin Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival

We are attempting to raise $5,000 to cover all of our submission fees along with travel and lodging.

Please donate whatever amount you can. With gratitude we accept each donation, and cannot wait to share this film with you and the rest of the world.

The House Invictus is a psychological thriller that examines the shared history of black folk in America, both modern, and past. Blood, chaos, upheaval, sex and religion and it’s cultural fall out blended with the psychology of race, masculinity and the power of brotherhood.

This feature length film is the first feature from the 55Media team- A Dennis and Uche Picture. Starring Rizelle Januk, and Uche Aguh. Written and directed by Uche Aguh, with cinematography by Dennis Schmitz.

The film follows the journey of two individuals- Kunle, a Manic-depressive film student who finds himself in a rehab ward, and Lola, a Psychiatrist Intern in training. Their worlds collide as they go on a journey of self-discovery, love, and self-therapy.

While this is only a concept trailer, the film is currently undergoing pre-production in the Austin, Texas area and is in need of serious help and support to get the full film made.

One of your fears is that you will grow up to be your mother, that her beauty- the movement and pride of it, has long been encased in your bones.

As a child you see your mother’s back

Azuike

How life has taught her bones to be stubborn

One of your fears is that you will grow up to be your mother, that Her loudness- all her ehs, and ohs, her chinekes and her chi, has been stitched on your tongue.

But it is also one of your greatest fortunes: to be born by your mother, to live by your mother, to become your mother. That your mother lives inside of you, that the choruses she sings will be heard by your daughters from your mouth, with your mother’s voice.

You carry a suitcase as you journey. What you do not know is that it is of your mother, and whenever you stop in pain, whenever you stop to dance, whenever the business of living gets too tiring, you stop to unpack your mother.

You find the smell of her, and you remember when your whole face disappeared into her breasts; when you were a little girl and did not know you were turning into your mother.

That you were packing up your mother for moments like this,
That your mother is the ocean you can carry

You think of her first, as lightning
and then as thunder
and then sun
but you realize she is not one, not three,
that she is the whole and source of it all, that she is the earth in woman’s form

You have seen your mother in worship, her rumpled face in communication, the sharp edges of her nchafu as she jerks, as she demands from God, her chi, only to give back to you.

You have seen the brokenness of her, the smashing, the pestle hitting against mortar,
you witnessed the scattering of seeds
the harvest and rottening

her back bent into the labor

Azuike

you have seen beauty silently find its way back home to the silent curves of her body.

Now, there is a knitting of times,
the past is tumbling into the future.
It is coming to you suddenly, in the form of a surprise: this is your mother speaking to you, your mother is your chi, she is communicating in sighs, in the tongue of men and cries of babies

She is the sound when your lips smacks, the breath and width of them red as you beautify yourself, as you prepare to resemble her

She is the hands finding their ways through your body, leaving fine scents of cocoa against your back

Your back
The spaces between your fingers
Your prominent forehead
The sides of your thighs
Your back

She is hands leaving you with the strength in which you carry your family, each of your children, from your womb, to the cradle or your arms, to the back of your spine.

Your back

Azuike

So whenever you find that you are your mother, you will hold yourself with your hands, tightly,

”Those of us that hold true to our moral compass will see the greatest success”

55Media presents a new and inspiring series capturing the lives and stories of NFL players. Aptly called, the NFL series. These stories will highlight players careers, their setbacks, hardships, victories, and their many accomplishments. The goal of these stories is to humanize these NFL players by detailing such a competitive and aggressive sport with a emotional and uplifting undertone.

The series will be a collection of short films by Uche Aguh in collaboration with Jeremy Hills at The Factory and special assistance from Onnit Gyms.

“In all human affairs there are efforts and there are results… and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not.”
– James Allen

55Media presents a new and inspiring series capturing the lives and stories of NFL players. Aptly called, the NFL series. These stories will highlight players careers, their setbacks, hardships, victories, and their many accomplishments. The goal of these stories is to humanize these NFL players by detailing such a competitive and aggressive sport with a emotional and uplifting undertone.

The series will be a collection of short films by Uche Aguh in collaboration with Jeremy Hills at The Factory and special assistance from Onnit Gyms.

55Media presents a new and inspiring series capturing the lives and stories of NFL players. Aptly called, the NFL series. These stories will highlight players careers, their setbacks, hardships, victories, and their many accomplishments. The goal of these stories is to humanize these NFL players by detailing such a competitive and aggressive sport with a emotional and uplifting undertone.

The series will be a collection of short films by Uche Aguh in collaboration with Jeremy Hills at The Factory and special assistance from Onnit Gyms.

55Media is now in its second year as a film company, and is gearing towards a feature film production in Austin Texas the summer of 2017. The film titled, ‘The Beautiful Ones’ is now in casting.

Synopsis: A feature length film set in a Mental rehabilitation ward in an Austin Hospital. A multi-ethnic, multi-dimensional, and multi-genre’d look into the world of mental health as it relates to young people in the society of today. Kunle, an African immigrant living in Texas who is studying to be a film-maker, battles with manic depression/bipolar disorder. He finds himself in a Pysch rehab ward, after another failed suicide. There, he meets Lola, an Indian resident in Psychiatry, who attempts to wheel hum back to life through dance and movement. But, as it turns out, she needs more help than he does.

This is merely a series of scenes chosen from the brilliant book, Americanah which was written by the incomparable Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. These scenes are a part of a concept package/pitch for the producers behind the screen adaptation of this book.

Scenes:
1: Lagos, Nigeria ~1995- Ifemelu and Obinze meet at a school party in Lagos. They fall madly in love immediately afterwards.

2. Princeton, New Jersey ~2009- After many years of living in America, Ifemelu finds herself unsettled in her new life and in her relationship with the college professor, Blaine. She must find a way to resolve this issue.

3. Lagos, Nigeria ~ 2010- Now back in Lagos after fifteen or so years apart, Ifemelu and Obinze rekindle their love. But the newness in both their lives, will only prove difficult to their undeniable love.

4. Lagos, Nigeria ~ 2010- Chanced with the rare opportunity of falling back in love with the woman he never fell out of love with, Obinze must take matters into his hands as he plans to move forward with Ifemelu.

These scenes were adapted (written and directed) for screen by Uche Aguh, and produced by 55Media.

Americanah tells the tale of a young love torn apart by the perils of migration and the constant search for greener pastures. It is a deeply moving and profound story that challenges the idea of race, class, nationality, and socio-economic status. For its protagonist, Adichie, has written a marvelous character in Ifemelu- A young girl, brilliant and unapologetic, uprooted from her home in Lagos, Nigeria and transplanted, in North America. Her identity becomes questionable, when she realizes suddenly that she now bears the label of a Black-American.

This concept package is a direct pitch to the producers (Plan B, Lupita Nyong’o, Potboiler) of the feature film currently in development, for consideration in the areas of writing and directing (Uche Aguh) and cinematography (Dennis Schmitz) as well as the featured actors involved in the production.

This concept was shot over a period of seven days, on location in London, on no budget.